


Intrusive Thoughts

by Anna_Hopkins



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack, Gen, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21700414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_Hopkins/pseuds/Anna_Hopkins
Summary: "Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it -- you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed --"
Comments: 24
Kudos: 259





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Some italicized portions taken from _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_.)

_Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it seemed to Harry. With a massive effort, he pulled himself back to the present and listened to what Moody was saying._

_" **Avada Kedavra** 's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it -- you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed --"_

Harry's hand twitched, and he realized he had taken his wand in hand, under the desk. If Moody noticed, he didn't say anything about it; he was still talking about the spell.

And Harry wasn't listening, because he was lifting his wand, resting it in his hand on the desk, and revolving it slowly in his hand to point at Moody.

He breathed in. Glanced around. No one else was looking, either. They were all watching Moody, except for Harry.

He looked up at where the professor stood in the room, adjusting his aim.

_"...Avada Kedavra,"_ he breathed out on a sigh.

Green light. A rushing sound. The people next to him screamed, recoiling. The professor jolted out of the path of the spell, and it left a singed spot on the blackboard behind him. Both eyes turned sharply to look at Harry now, almost like they were boring into him; students had gotten out of their seats, some still shrieking, all of them parting like the Red Sea so there was only Moody, frozen at the front of the room, and Harry, gone equally still in his seat.

A long moment. The students quieted, some returning to their seats, and still the professor had not said anything, blinking slowly at Harry like a specimen in a zoo.

(Harry remembered the snake he'd freed from the zoo, and the even older memory of the scene with the snake in _The Jungle Book,_ and wondered whether he or Moody was doing the mesmerizing, because their eyes still met.)  
Eventually, Moody stood straighter, cocking his head at Harry, still meeting his eyes. "...Twenty points to Gryffindor," he murmured, "for calling my bluff."

Moody was the first to turn away from their peculiar staring contest, as well. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared at the class. "Return to your seats; there's more to this lesson yet."

There was only a bit more lecture and note-taking before class was over; Harry felt the eyes of his classmates on him the entire time, crawling over his skin. When he looked up at the board, he could see Slytherins leaning forward in their seats to look at him from the periphery; and Harry wanted to hide under the Invisibility Cloak for the rest of the day, because he was only just realizing what he'd done.

He'd incanted the Killing Curse. An illegal spell. At his _professor._ And it had _cast._

_(What is wrong with me?)_

At the end of the lesson, Moody asked Harry to stay behind. Ron and Hermione threw wary looks at him over their shoulders as they left -- not even talking to him. A sinking feeling in Harry's stomach told him he'd done something... unforgivable.

(Oh.)


	2. Chapter 2

The door to the classroom closed, and then Harry and Moody were alone. The professor took a long swig of his hip flask before sitting heavily back on his desk.

"So, Potter," he said. "Nice spell."

Harry blinked at him, confused. "Er... thank you, sir? I'm s--"

Moody cut him off with a wave of his hand. One side of his scarred mouth pulled up in a snarl. "Don't apologize! I'm impressed!"

Harry faltered, shutting his mouth.

The professor's wooden leg clunked loud against the stone floor as he got up to pace back and forth. "You think just anyone with the balls could pull off a Killing Curse, Potter? It's not that easy! Never mind the magical drain -- and you don't even look tired -- it's a trickier spell than it looks, and you've cast it anyway. Tell me," he barked, and Harry jumped, "did you even think much about it when you cast that, or did it flow from your wand fast as a Lumos?"

"Erm --"

Moody burst out laughing, clutching at his stomach. He sidled over to Harry and clapped him on the shoulder, still chuckling. Eventually, the laughter faded, and he fixed Harry with a more somber look. "You've got talent, kid. Real talent. And about ten minutes before Albus hears about what you did and comes to investigate."

"I'm in trouble, aren't I," Harry realized quietly, going pale.

The hand on his shoulder shook him a little. "Listen carefully," Moody said, and Harry gave a jerky nod, eyes wide. "You and I planned this out ahead of time. You didn't _really_ cast the spell. It was an illusion I made in advance to make the lesson more interesting. Got it?"

Harry nodded again. "And that's why I picked the seat I picked," he suggested, adding on to the story.

Moody's face twitched into the snarl again; Harry realized it was his face's attempt at a smile. "Atta boy," the man said. "Now, hand me your wand so I can clear that spell off the record."

Harry's mind was full of questions -- _'the record' as in Priori Incantatem like they'd done at the World Cup?_ \-- as he passed his wand to Moody, who tapped it with his own wand and muttered something under his breath. His blue eye swivelled to the door, and he hurriedly returned it to Harry (who pocketed it) only seconds before it burst open to reveal the Headmaster, just as Moody had predicted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _2019.12.07_ Minor edit made to the end of the chapter - kudos to Anaelyssa for reminding me Harry _had_ seen Priori Incantatem by this point in the book


End file.
